Corporate social responsibility in the oil and gas sector
Jedrzej George Frynas

Companies are increasingly expected to assist in addressing many of the world's pressing problems including climate change, poverty and HIV/AIDS. According to a 2007 survey by the consultancy firm McKinsey carried out amongst the chief executive officers (CEOs) of companies, 95 per cent of the CEOs believe that society has greater expectations than it did 5 years ago that companies will assume public responsibilities. More than half of the CEOs believe that these expectations will further increase significantly during the next 5 years.

Energy trade, carbon emissions and the WTO
Lawrence L. Herman

The rules in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (the 'GATT') and the World Trade Organization Agreement provide the underpinnings to the global trading system. Without those rules, the ordered processes of international commerce, including trade in energy goods and services, would be at risk. In the context of efforts aimed at reducing greenhouse gases (GHGs), including measures implementing the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol1 and the recently concluded Bali Action Plan,2 questions arise as to the application of these GATT/WTO rules and disciplines to national climate-change action plans.

Russia's evolving energy policy for its eastern regions, and implications for oil and gas cooperation between Russia and China
Leonty Eder, Philip Andrews-Speed, and Andrey Korzhubaev

Cooperation between Russia and China began in the early 1950s when the Soviet Union provided China with the technology and skills required to develop a modern oil industry. This assistance was withdrawn in 1958 as Sino-Russian relations deteriorated. During the following decades, each country developed its oil and gas industries independently of each other. Russia became a major exporter of natural gas to Europe, whilst China became a significant exporter of oil, mainly to East Asia.

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